normalize() interpreted by Stata as a variable in oaxaca_rif

[Alessandro Corsi]

I'm using Stata 19 on Windows 11. My dataset has 53,525 observations and 152 variables.
I'm running an Oaxaca decomposition of gender gap in agriculture.
Some variables of interest are groups of mutually exclusive dummy variables, for which I would like to use the normalize() option: more specifically (see code below), this concerns variables (ote_dum1-otedum8) (y2019-2023) (montagna collina pianura)
When using the oaxaca command (Jann, 2008) the normalize option works smoothly, I get the results with the normalized variables coefficients.
On the contrary, when using oaxaca_rif (Rios-Avila, Stata Journal 202) estimation is not performed and I receive:
variable normalize not found
r(111);
This sounds strange, as in the Rios-Avila article he says "The option normalize() and aggregation of subset of variables using the syntax ( name: varlist) are also possible".

Thank you for any hint on where is the problem.
Here is the code

oaxaca log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar_fisso //
log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited  //
anni_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4//
ote_dum5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige//
Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise //
Puglia Sardegna Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021//
y2022 y2023) , by (fem) vce (robust) noisily relax

oaxaca_rif  log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar_fisso //
log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited //
anni_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4 //
ote_dum5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige//
Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise //
Puglia Sardegna Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 //
y2022 y2023), by (fem) rif(q (.25)) noisily relax

[Nick Cox]

A few wild hypotheses, as I can't possibly run either command without access to your data and I am not familiar with either command,

It does no harm to put spaces before continuation comments. Thus always put a space before //

Sometimes Stata doesn't see the whole of a long command line because of the way it is treated. Some string processing may not work as expected because of an implicit limit on the length of an input text string. So,

set trace on 
set traced 1

before you run the command that failed. You (we) need to see what Stata is seeing when it chokes, The output may be voluminous but what Stata shows just before the command fails may give a clue.

[Rich Goldstein]

I have no idea what is going on re: the commands, but having only two forward slashes is clearly incorrect; if you want to treat these as continuation comments, you need 3, not 2; see

h comment

[Nick Cox]

Rich Goldstein That's a very good point -- except that it doesn't explain why the first command works but the second doesn't.

I'm led to guess that Alessandro Corsi did not use the code given in #1 but used something else and merely edited the code in #1 to use // comments for a Statalist posting.

At the same time, I overlooked that myself in #2 and the recommendation there should be rephrased in terms of /// not //.

Alessandro: If the above is true, it is hoped that otherwise your code has not been changed importantly from what you really tried.

[Alessandro Corsi]

Thanks, Nick Cox and Rick Goldstein:you are right, I just edited the code for the Statalist posting, the original code had no slashes, so the problem is not there..
I tried your suggestion to run set trace on and set traced 1, but the result is the same

. oaxaca_rif  log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar_fi
> sso log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited  an
> ni_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4 ote_du
> m5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basilicat
> a Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sardeg
> na Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023), 
> by (fem) rif(q (.25)) noisily relax
No wgt specified. Using default 0
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
RIF regression group 1
variable normalize not found
r(111);

[Nick Cox]

You may need to bump up the trace depth

set traced 2

and keep going until Stata echoes what it is looking at before it posts the error message.

[Alessandro Corsi]

Nick Cox bear with me, I'm rather new to Stata and this is my first post. I did as you suggested and I'm posting the result, but I'm not able to understand what is wrong.

. oaxaca_rif  log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar_fi
> sso log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited  an
> ni_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4 ote_du
> m5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basilicat
> a Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sardeg
> na Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023), 
> by (fem) rif(q (.25)) noisily relax
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------- begin oaxaca_rif ---
  - if replay() {
    display_ob
    exit
    }
  - version 12.0
  - syntax anything [if] [in] [aw fw iw pw] , by(varname) rif(string) [ swp swap Weights(str) rwlo
> git(str) rwprobit(str) wgt(int -1) cluster(varname) relax Noisily scale(real 1.0) retain(str) re
> place iseed(str) s2var(varlist) ]
  - tokenize `anything'
  = tokenize log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar_fis
> so log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited  ann
> i_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4 ote_dum
> 5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basilicata
>  Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sardegn
> a Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023)
  - local y `1'
  = local y log_rt_az_real
  - macro shift
  - local rest `*'
  = local rest log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real no_capagrar_fisso log_cap_agr
> _c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam inherited anni_stud eta eta2 
> zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3 ote_dum4 ote_dum5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7
>  ote_dum8) normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basilicata Calabria Campania E
> milia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sardegna Sicilia Toscana Tr
> entino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023)
  - marksample touse
  - fvexpand `rwprobit'
  = fvexpand 
  - local erwprobit `r(varlist)'
  = local erwprobit 
  - fvexpand `rwlogit'
  = fvexpand 
  - local erwlogit `r(varlist)'
  = local erwlogit 
  - tempvar ax1
  - foreach i in `anything' `by' `erwlogit' `erwprobit' `cluster' {
  = foreach i in log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real  no_capagrar
> _fisso log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam  inherited 
>  anni_stud eta  eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio  normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3  ote_dum4 ote
> _dum5 ote_dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8)  normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basili
> cata Calabria Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sar
> degna Sicilia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023
> ) fem    {
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_rt_az_real
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_capfond_real
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=no_capfondiario
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_cap_ag_fiss_real
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=no_capagrar_fisso
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_cap_agr_c_real
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=no_capagrar_circol
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_ore_sal
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=no_oresalariate
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=log_ore_fam
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=inherited
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=anni_stud
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=eta
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=eta2
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=zsva_d
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=sau_irr_perc
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=bio
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=normalize(ote_dum1
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum2
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum3
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum4
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum5
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum6
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum7
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=ote_dum8)
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=normalize(montagna
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=collina
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=pianura)
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Abruzzo
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Alto_Adige
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Basilicata
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Calabria
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Campania
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Emilia_Romagna
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Friuli_VG
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Lazio
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Liguria
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Lombardia
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Marche
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Molise
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Puglia
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Sardegna
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Sicilia
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Toscana
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Trentino
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Umbria
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Valle_Aosta
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=Veneto
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=normalize(y2019
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=y2020
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=y2021
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=y2022
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=y2023)
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - capture drop `ax1'
  = capture drop __000001
  - capture gen `ax1'=`i'
  = capture gen __000001=fem
  - capture replace `touse'=0 if `ax1'==.
  = capture replace __000000=0 if __000001==.
  - }
  - qui:levelsof `by' if `touse', local(idf)
  = qui:levelsof fem if __000000, local(idf)
  - foreach i of local idf {
  - local nx=`nx'+1
  = local nx=+1
  - local g`nx'=`i'
  = local g1=0
  - if `nx'>2 {
  = if 1>2 {
    display "More than 2 groups in `by' identified. Only 2 groups can be used"
    exit
    }
  - }
  - local nx=`nx'+1
  = local nx=1+1
  - local g`nx'=`i'
  = local g2=1
  - if `nx'>2 {
  = if 2>2 {
    display "More than 2 groups in `by' identified. Only 2 groups can be used"
    exit
    }
  - }
  - if "`weight'" == "" {
  = if "" == "" {
  - tempvar eweight
  - gen `eweight' = 1.0
  = gen __000002 = 1.0
  - local weight "aweight"
  - local exp `eweight'
  = local exp __000002
  - local erweight 1
  - }
  - else {
    local exp = regexr("`exp'", "= ", "")
    local erweight `exp'
    }
  - local exp_no_eq = regexr("`exp'", "=", "")
  = local exp_no_eq = regexr("__000002", "=", "")
  - if "`weights'"!="" {
  = if ""!="" {
    local wgt=`weights'
    local weights=""
    }
  - if "`wgt'"=="-1" {
  = if "-1"=="-1" {
  - display "No wgt specified. Using default 0"
No wgt specified. Using default 0
  - local wgt = "0"
  - }
  - if "`wgt'"!="0" & "`wgt'"!="1" {
  = if "0"!="0" & "0"!="1" {
    display "For Weighted Oaxaca, one can only use w=1 or w=0"
    exit
    }
  - if "`rwlogit'"!="" & "`rwprobit'"!="" {
  = if ""!="" & ""!="" {
    display "Only one probability model can be set. Choose either Logit or probit for the first st
> age"
    exit
    }
  - if "`rwlogit'"=="" & "`rwprobit'"=="" {
  = if ""=="" & ""=="" {
  - display "No Reweighted Strategy Choosen"
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
  - local type="Standard"
  - }
  - else {
    local type="Reweighted"
    }
  - if "`swap'"!="" {
  = if ""!="" {
    local swap=""
    local swp="swp"
    }
  - if "`retain'"!="" {
  = if ""!="" {
    tempvar rifretain
    qui:egen `rifretain'=rifvar(`y') if `touse', `rif' weight(`exp') by(`by')
    if "`replace'"!="" {
    capture:gen double `retain'=`rifretain'
    capture:replace `retain'=`rifretain'
    local vnm:variable label `rifretain'
    label var `retain' "`vnm'"
    }
    else {
    gen double `retain'=`rifretain'
    local vnm:variable label `rifretain'
    label var `retain' "`vnm'"
    }
    }
  - display "Estimating `type' RIF-OAXACA using RIF:`rif'"
  = display "Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)"
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
  - if "`type'"=="Standard" {
  = if "Standard"=="Standard" {
  - preserve
  - if "`swp'"!="" {
  = if ""!="" {
    replace `by'=-`by'
    local gx=`g1'
    local g1=`g2'
    local g2=`gx'
    }
  - tempvar rif_var
  - qui: egen `rif_var'=rifvar(`y') if `touse'==1, `rif' weight(`exp') by(`by') seed(`iseed')
  = qui: egen __000003=rifvar(log_rt_az_real) if __000000==1, q (.25) weight(__000002) by(fem) see
> d()
  - qui: replace `rif_var'=`rif_var'*`scale'
  = qui: replace __000003=__000003*1
  - foreach i of local s2var {
    qui: egen _s2_`i'=rifvar(`i') if `touse'==1, var weight(`exp') by(`by') seed(`iseed')
    local re `re' _s2_`i'
    }
  - if "`noisily'"!="" {
  = if "noisily"!="" {
  - local cnt=0
  - qui:levelsof `by', local(grps)
  = qui:levelsof fem, local(grps)
  - foreach i of local grps {
  - local cnt=`cnt'+1
  = local cnt=0+1
  - if `cnt'==1 display in w "RIF regression group 1"
  = if 1==1 display in w "RIF regression group 1"
RIF regression group 1
  - if `cnt'==2 display in w "RIF regression group 2"
  = if 1==2 display in w "RIF regression group 2"
  - rifhdreg `y' `rest' `re' [`weight'=`exp'] if `touse'==1 & `by'==`i', robust cluster(`cluster')
>  rif(`rif') iseed(`iseed')
  = rifhdreg log_rt_az_real log_capfond_real no_capfondiario log_cap_ag_fiss_real no_capagrar_fiss
> o log_cap_agr_c_real no_capagrar_circol log_ore_sal no_oresalariate log_ore_fam inherited anni_s
> tud eta eta2 zsva_d sau_irr_perc bio normalize(ote_dum1 ote_dum2 ote_dum3 ote_dum4 ote_dum5 ote_
> dum6 ote_dum7 ote_dum8) normalize(montagna collina pianura) Abruzzo Alto_Adige Basilicata Calabr
> ia Campania Emilia_Romagna Friuli_VG Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Puglia Sardegna Sicil
> ia Toscana Trentino Umbria Valle_Aosta Veneto normalize(y2019 y2020 y2021 y2022 y2023)  [aweight
> =__000002] if __000000==1 & fem==0, robust cluster() rif(q (.25)) iseed()
variable normalize not found
    tempname bf`cnt' Vf`cnt'
    matrix `bf`cnt''=e(b)
    matrix `Vf`cnt''=e(V)
    }
    }
    qui:oaxaca `rif_var' `rest' `re' [`weight'=`exp'] if `touse'==1, by(`by') w(`wgt') robust clus
> ter(`cluster') `relax'
    drop `rif_var'
    local lgd "" `e(legend)' ""
    tempname b V
    matrix `b'=e(b)
    matrix `V'=e(V)
    if `wgt'==0 {
    local gc = "x1*b2"
    }
    if `wgt'==1 {
    local gc = "x2*b1"
    }
    local N1=e(N_1)
    local N2=e(N_2)
    restore
    }
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- end oaxaca_rif ---
r(111);

[Nick Cox]

No need to apologise, and in any case I can't see what's wrong either.

[Andrew Musau]

Can you show the results of:

which oaxaca
which oaxaca_rif

Also, are you able to run the following?

use http://fmwww.bc.edu/RePEc/bocode/o/oaxaca.dta, clear
set seed 05142026
tabulate isco, nofreq generate(isco)
gen catvar= runiformint(1, 5)
tabulate catvar, nofreq generate(d)
oaxaca_rif lnwage educ  normalize(isco?) exper normalize(d?) tenure, by(female) rif(q (.25))

[Alessandro Corsi]

Here are the results of both:

. do "C:\Users\aless\AppData\Local\Temp\STD76d0_000016.tmp"

. which oaxaca
C:\Users\aless\ado\plus\o\oaxaca.ado
*! version 4.0.5  24aug2011  Ben Jann


. which oaxaca_rif
C:\Users\aless\ado\plus\o\oaxaca_rif.ado
*! version 2.2 July 2019  Author Fernando Rios Avila



. oaxaca_rif lnwage educ  normalize(isco?) exper normalize(d?) tenure, by(female) rif(q (.25))
No wgt specified. Using default 0
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
Model  : Blinder-Oaxaca RIF-decomposition
Type   : Standard
RIF    : q (.25)
Scale  : 1
Group 1: female = 0                              N of obs 1      = 751
Group c: x1*b2                                   N of obs C      =          .
Group 2: female = 1                              N of obs 2      = 683

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      lnwage | Coefficient  Std. err.      z    P>|z|     [95% conf. interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
overall      |
     group_1 |   1.220683   .1205265    10.13   0.000     .9844554    1.456911
     group_2 |   .7255667   .1398974     5.19   0.000     .4513729    .9997605
  difference |   .4951164   .1846562     2.68   0.007     .1331969    .8570359
   explained |  -.2427563   .2397333    -1.01   0.311     -.712625    .2271124
 unexplained |   .7378727   .3879959     1.90   0.057    -.0225854    1.498331
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
explained    |
        educ |   .1424211   .1384165     1.03   0.304    -.1288703    .4137125
       isco1 |  -.1746118   .1733777    -1.01   0.314    -.5144258    .1652023
       isco2 |  -.0403393   .0412811    -0.98   0.328    -.1212488    .0405702
       isco3 |   -.026282   .0271644    -0.97   0.333    -.0795234    .0269593
       isco4 |  -.0717528   .0695556    -1.03   0.302    -.2080792    .0645736
       isco5 |  -.0717618   .0693905    -1.03   0.301    -.2077648    .0642411
       isco6 |   .0070086   .0080049     0.88   0.381    -.0086807    .0226978
       isco7 |   .0847875   .0824355     1.03   0.304    -.0767831    .2463581
       isco8 |   .0348085   .0351094     0.99   0.321    -.0340046    .1036217
       isco9 |  -.0161487   .0169899    -0.95   0.342    -.0494484    .0171509
       exper |   -.019249   .0210984    -0.91   0.362    -.0606011    .0221032
          d1 |   .0013112   .0020767     0.63   0.528    -.0027591    .0053814
          d2 |  -.0005193   .0052019    -0.10   0.920    -.0107149    .0096763
          d3 |  -.0038417   .0049817    -0.77   0.441    -.0136057    .0059224
          d4 |   .0016427   .0038894     0.42   0.673    -.0059804    .0092658
          d5 |  -.0077536   .0136292    -0.57   0.569    -.0344663     .018959
      tenure |  -.0824759   .0804557    -1.03   0.305    -.2401661    .0752144
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
unexplained  |
        educ |  -2.090605   2.850521    -0.73   0.463    -7.677523    3.496314
       isco1 |   .3180188     .29924     1.06   0.288    -.2684807    .9045183
       isco2 |   .0778526   .0889717     0.88   0.382    -.0965289     .252234
       isco3 |  -.0472107   .0827847    -0.57   0.568    -.2094657    .1150443
       isco4 |  -.1510383   .1115678    -1.35   0.176    -.3697072    .0676306
       isco5 |  -.0233371   .0378759    -0.62   0.538    -.0975725    .0508984
       isco6 |  -.0085724   .0120148    -0.71   0.476    -.0321211    .0149762
       isco7 |  -.0695913   .1132384    -0.61   0.539    -.2915345    .1523518
       isco8 |  -.0376058   .0455883    -0.82   0.409    -.1269573    .0517457
       isco9 |  -.0118957   .0172813    -0.69   0.491    -.0457665    .0219751
       exper |   .2904817   .2123158     1.37   0.171    -.1256496     .706613
          d1 |   .0177125   .0346684     0.51   0.609    -.0502363    .0856613
          d2 |  -.0217861   .0579758    -0.38   0.707    -.1354165    .0918443
          d3 |  -.1074791    .093678    -1.15   0.251    -.2910846    .0761263
          d4 |  -.0053417   .0443941    -0.12   0.904    -.0923526    .0816692
          d5 |   .1280567   .1061416     1.21   0.228     -.079977    .3360903
      tenure |   .2933421    .298469     0.98   0.326    -.2916463    .8783306
       _cons |   2.186871   2.838048     0.77   0.441    -3.375602    7.749344
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. 
end of do-file

[Hua Peng (StataCorp)]

Looks like the noisily caused the error

. use http://fmwww.bc.edu/RePEc/bocode/o/oaxaca.dta, clear
(Excerpt from the Swiss Labor Market Survey 1998)

. set seed 05142026

. tabulate isco, nofreq generate(isco)

. gen catvar= runiformint(1, 5)

. tabulate catvar, nofreq generate(d)

. oaxaca_rif lnwage educ  normalize(isco?) exper normalize(d1 d2 d3 d4 d5) ten
> ure, by(female) rif(q (.25))
No wgt specified. Using default 0
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
Model  : Blinder-Oaxaca RIF-decomposition
Type   : Standard
RIF    : q (.25)
Scale  : 1
Group 1: female = 0                              N of obs 1      = 751
Group c: x1*b2                                   N of obs C      =          .
Group 2: female = 1                              N of obs 2      = 683

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      lnwage |      Coef.   Std. Err.      z    P>|z|     [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
overall      |
     group_1 |   1.220683   .1205265    10.13   0.000     .9844554    1.456911
     group_2 |   .7255667   .1398974     5.19   0.000     .4513729    .9997605
  difference |   .4951164   .1846562     2.68   0.007     .1331969    .8570359
   explained |  -.2427563   .2397333    -1.01   0.311     -.712625    .2271124
 unexplained |   .7378727   .3879959     1.90   0.057    -.0225854    1.498331
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
explained    |
        educ |   .1424211   .1384165     1.03   0.304    -.1288703    .4137125
       isco1 |  -.1746118   .1733777    -1.01   0.314    -.5144258    .1652023
       isco2 |  -.0403393   .0412811    -0.98   0.328    -.1212488    .0405702
       isco3 |   -.026282   .0271644    -0.97   0.333    -.0795234    .0269593
       isco4 |  -.0717528   .0695556    -1.03   0.302    -.2080792    .0645736
       isco5 |  -.0717618   .0693905    -1.03   0.301    -.2077648    .0642411
       isco6 |   .0070086   .0080049     0.88   0.381    -.0086807    .0226978
       isco7 |   .0847875   .0824355     1.03   0.304    -.0767831    .2463581
       isco8 |   .0348085   .0351094     0.99   0.321    -.0340046    .1036217
       isco9 |  -.0161487   .0169899    -0.95   0.342    -.0494484    .0171509
       exper |   -.019249   .0210984    -0.91   0.362    -.0606011    .0221032
          d1 |   .0013112   .0020767     0.63   0.528    -.0027591    .0053814
          d2 |  -.0005193   .0052019    -0.10   0.920    -.0107149    .0096763
          d3 |  -.0038417   .0049817    -0.77   0.441    -.0136057    .0059224
          d4 |   .0016427   .0038894     0.42   0.673    -.0059804    .0092658
          d5 |  -.0077536   .0136292    -0.57   0.569    -.0344663     .018959
      tenure |  -.0824759   .0804557    -1.03   0.305    -.2401661    .0752144
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
unexplained  |
        educ |  -2.090605   2.850521    -0.73   0.463    -7.677523    3.496314
       isco1 |   .3180188     .29924     1.06   0.288    -.2684807    .9045183
       isco2 |   .0778526   .0889717     0.88   0.382    -.0965289     .252234
       isco3 |  -.0472107   .0827847    -0.57   0.568    -.2094657    .1150443
       isco4 |  -.1510383   .1115678    -1.35   0.176    -.3697072    .0676306
       isco5 |  -.0233371   .0378759    -0.62   0.538    -.0975725    .0508984
       isco6 |  -.0085724   .0120148    -0.71   0.476    -.0321211    .0149762
       isco7 |  -.0695913   .1132384    -0.61   0.539    -.2915345    .1523518
       isco8 |  -.0376058   .0455883    -0.82   0.409    -.1269573    .0517457
       isco9 |  -.0118957   .0172813    -0.69   0.491    -.0457665    .0219751
       exper |   .2904817   .2123158     1.37   0.171    -.1256496     .706613
          d1 |   .0177125   .0346684     0.51   0.609    -.0502363    .0856613
          d2 |  -.0217861   .0579758    -0.38   0.707    -.1354165    .0918443
          d3 |  -.1074791    .093678    -1.15   0.251    -.2910846    .0761263
          d4 |  -.0053417   .0443941    -0.12   0.904    -.0923526    .0816692
          d5 |   .1280567   .1061416     1.21   0.228     -.079977    .3360903
      tenure |   .2933421    .298469     0.98   0.326    -.2916463    .8783306
       _cons |   2.186871   2.838048     0.77   0.441    -3.375602    7.749344
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.
.
. oaxaca_rif lnwage educ  normalize(isco?) exper normalize(d1 d2 d3 d4 d5) ten
> ure, by(female) rif(q (.25)) noi
No wgt specified. Using default 0
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
RIF regression group 1
variable normalize not found
r(111);

end of do-file

r(111);

[Andrew Musau]

Both commands are updated.

. which oaxaca
C:\Users\amus\ado\plus\o\oaxaca.ado
*! version 4.1.1  24apr2023  Ben Jann

. which oaxaca_rif
C:\Users\amus\ado\plus\o\oaxaca_rif.ado
*!version 2.4 Nov 2020 Fernando Rios Avila

In my versions, the -noisily- option does not cause an error, but Hua Peng (StataCorp) points out the source of your error. I suggest that you update both commands.

ado uninstall oaxaca
ado uninstall rif
ssc install oaxaca, replace
ssc install rif, replace

In my versions:

. oaxaca_rif lnwage educ  normalize(isco?) exper normalize(d?) tenure, by(female) rif(q (.
> 25)) noi
No wgt specified. Using default 0
No Reweighted Strategy Choosen
Estimating Standard RIF-OAXACA using RIF:q (.25)
RIF regression group 1

      Source |       SS           df       MS      Number of obs   =       751
-------------+----------------------------------   F(15, 735)      =      1.06
       Model |  169.207984        15  11.2805323   Prob > F        =    0.3950
    Residual |  7852.81428       735  10.6841011   R-squared       =    0.0211
-------------+----------------------------------   Adj R-squared   =    0.0011
       Total |  8022.02226       750  10.6960297   Root MSE        =    3.2687

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      lnwage | Coefficient  Std. err.      t    P>|t|     [95% conf. interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
        educ |   .0676772   .0608851     1.11   0.267    -.0518523    .1872067
       isco2 |  -.1446463   .5089586    -0.28   0.776    -1.143832    .8545396
       isco3 |   .0163759    .478455     0.03   0.973    -.9229255    .9556772
       isco4 |  -1.167269   .5797367    -2.01   0.044    -2.305406    -.029132
       isco5 |   .1319563   .6493461     0.20   0.839    -1.142838     1.40675
       isco6 |   .0264962   .9442005     0.03   0.978    -1.827155    1.880148
       isco7 |   .1072399   .5060465     0.21   0.832     -.886229    1.100709
       isco8 |   .0346529    .662847     0.05   0.958    -1.266646    1.335952
       isco9 |   .1111322   .8863438     0.13   0.900    -1.628935      1.8512
       exper |    .010709   .0137382     0.78   0.436    -.0162617    .0376798
          d2 |  -.0042975   .3697704    -0.01   0.991    -.7302295    .7216346
          d3 |  -.6558168   .3840622    -1.71   0.088    -1.409806    .0981729
          d4 |  -.0000969   .3764017    -0.00   1.000    -.7390474    .7388536
          d5 |  -.0424038   .3737707    -0.11   0.910    -.7761892    .6913817
      tenure |  -.0018105   .0166375    -0.11   0.913    -.0344731    .0308521
       _cons |   .5124414   .8970686     0.57   0.568    -1.248681    2.273564
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distributional Statistic: q (.25)
Sample Mean    RIF q (.25) :  1.2207
RIF regression group 2

      Source |       SS           df       MS      Number of obs   =       683
-------------+----------------------------------   F(15, 667)      =      3.31
       Model |  622.684138        15  41.5122759   Prob > F        =    0.0000
    Residual |   8369.7025       667  12.5482796   R-squared       =    0.0692
-------------+----------------------------------   Adj R-squared   =    0.0483
       Total |  8992.38664       682  13.1853176   Root MSE        =    3.5424

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      lnwage | Coefficient  Std. err.      t    P>|t|     [95% conf. interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
        educ |   .2454926   .0688244     3.57   0.000      .110354    .3806311
       isco2 |   3.285444   .8317743     3.95   0.000     1.652233    4.918656
       isco3 |   4.002273   .7512809     5.33   0.000     2.527112    5.477433
       isco4 |   4.282636   .7800468     5.49   0.000     2.750993    5.814279
       isco5 |    4.33645   .7983784     5.43   0.000     2.768812    5.904088
       isco6 |   4.261599   1.742283     2.45   0.015      .840579     7.68262
       isco7 |    4.27115   .9747666     4.38   0.000      2.35717     6.18513
       isco8 |   4.498182   1.405783     3.20   0.001     1.737888    7.258476
       isco9 |   4.413891   .9691654     4.55   0.000     2.510908    6.316873
       exper |  -.0099614   .0198226    -0.50   0.615    -.0488835    .0289607
          d2 |   .1807056   .4276512     0.42   0.673    -.6589991     1.02041
          d3 |   .0287662   .4240852     0.07   0.946    -.8039365    .8614689
          d4 |   .1096888   .4436734     0.25   0.805    -.7614759    .9808535
          d5 |   -.612237   .4479133    -1.37   0.172    -1.491727    .2672529
      tenure |  -.0345137   .0241098    -1.43   0.153    -.0818539    .0128265
       _cons |  -5.569225    1.16328    -4.79   0.000    -7.853356   -3.285094
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distributional Statistic: q (.25)
Sample Mean    RIF q (.25) :  .72591
Model  : Blinder-Oaxaca RIF-decomposition
Type   : Standard
RIF    : q (.25)
Scale  : 1
Group 1: female = 0 x1*b1                        N of obs 1      = 751
Group c: x1*b2                                   N of obs C      =          .
Group 2: female = 1 x2*b2                        N of obs 2      = 683

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      lnwage | Coefficient  Std. err.      z    P>|z|     [95% conf. interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
overall      |
     group_1 |   1.220684   .1205276    10.13   0.000     .9844542    1.456914
     group_2 |   .7255667   .1398974     5.19   0.000     .4513727    .9997606
  difference |   .4951174    .184657     2.68   0.007     .1331964    .8570385
   explained |  -.2427564   .1635712    -1.48   0.138      -.56335    .0778372
 unexplained |   .7378739   .2414664     3.06   0.002     .2646085    1.211139
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
explained    |
        educ |   .1424212   .0505807     2.82   0.005     .0432848    .2415575
       isco1 |  -.1746119   .0561929    -3.11   0.002    -.2847479   -.0644758
       isco2 |  -.0403393   .0484191    -0.83   0.405    -.1352391    .0545604
       isco3 |   -.026282   .0305506    -0.86   0.390    -.0861601     .033596
       isco4 |  -.0717528   .0474355    -1.51   0.130    -.1647246     .021219
       isco5 |  -.0717619   .0461875    -1.55   0.120    -.1622876    .0187639
       isco6 |   .0070086   .0182749     0.38   0.701    -.0288097    .0428268
       isco7 |   .0847875    .095306     0.89   0.374    -.1020088    .2715839
       isco8 |   .0348086   .0483734     0.72   0.472    -.0600015    .1296186
       isco9 |  -.0161487   .0157335    -1.03   0.305    -.0469859    .0146884
       exper |   -.019249   .0386475    -0.50   0.618    -.0949966    .0564987
          d1 |   .0013112    .006338     0.21   0.836    -.0111111    .0137334
          d2 |  -.0005193   .0052087    -0.10   0.921    -.0107282    .0096895
          d3 |  -.0038417   .0116722    -0.33   0.742    -.0267187    .0190354
          d4 |   .0016427   .0044254     0.37   0.710     -.007031    .0103164
          d5 |  -.0077536   .0121092    -0.64   0.522    -.0314872      .01598
      tenure |  -.0824759   .0593892    -1.39   0.165    -.1988766    .0339248
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
unexplained  |
        educ |  -2.090598   1.083597    -1.93   0.054     -4.21441    .0332134
       isco1 |    .318019   .0771499     4.12   0.000      .166808      .46923
       isco2 |   .0778525   .1261075     0.62   0.537    -.1693136    .3250186
       isco3 |  -.0472105    .112141    -0.42   0.674    -.2670028    .1725819
       isco4 |  -.1510392   .0523422    -2.89   0.004    -.2536282   -.0484503
       isco5 |   -.023337   .0361153    -0.65   0.518    -.0941216    .0474476
       isco6 |  -.0085724   .0322886    -0.27   0.791    -.0718568     .054712
       isco7 |   -.069591   .1358303    -0.51   0.608    -.3358135    .1966314
       isco8 |  -.0376057   .0681426    -0.55   0.581    -.1711628    .0959513
       isco9 |  -.0118957   .0226751    -0.52   0.600    -.0563381    .0325468
       exper |   .2904832   .3388053     0.86   0.391    -.3735629    .9545293
          d1 |   .0177128   .0782637     0.23   0.821    -.1356813    .1711069
          d2 |  -.0217858   .0755302    -0.29   0.773    -.1698222    .1262506
          d3 |    -.10748   .0651388    -1.65   0.099    -.2351496    .0201896
          d4 |  -.0053414   .0722349    -0.07   0.941    -.1469193    .1362364
          d5 |   .1280569   .0738223     1.73   0.083    -.0166322     .272746
      tenure |   .2933421   .2633243     1.11   0.265    -.2227639    .8094482
       _cons |   2.186865   1.123436     1.95   0.052    -.0150287    4.388758
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Alessandro Corsi]

Thanks. When dropping the noisily option, it works.
But I did not succeed in updating oaxaca_rif as suggested. This is what I got:

. which oaxaca_rif
C:\Users\aless\ado\plus\o\oaxaca_rif.ado
*! version 2.2 July 2019  Author Fernando Rios Avila

. ado uninstall oaxaca_rif
package not found
r(111);

. ssc install oaxaca_rif, replace
ssc install: "oaxaca_rif" not found at SSC, type search oaxaca_rif
(To find all packages at SSC that start with o, type ssc describe o)
r(601);

[Nick Cox]

The package name is rif and oaxaca_rif is a command within it. ssc wants a package name.

I think you need

ssc install rif, replace

[Alessandro Corsi]

I reinstalled rif, and now oaxaca_rif works, i.e., the normalize option is no more taken as a variable.
So this solved the problem. Thank you very much for your help